HOW CAN YOU REJOICE IN GOD?

In Luke 1:46-47 the Theotokos proclaims, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." I want you to stop and think about what Mary says in this passage: her spirit rejoices in God. Can you say that your spirit rejoices in God? Does your relationship with Him bring you joy?

In his epistle to the Romans, St. Paul concisely describes the Kingdom of God: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Romans 14:17–18). The kingdom of God is not only righteousness, but joy, and without joy our lives are unacceptable to God.

True Christian joy is promised to us by our Lord: “I have come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Twice in His talk to His disciples on the night that he was betrayed, Christ referred to the joy possible for Christians (see John 16:21–22, 24).

We are not to simply wait, however, for joy to be bestowed upon us — we are commanded to “rejoice always” (1 Thessalonians 5:16); St. Paul further emphasizes this command, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4)! Despite this command, we must admit that too often we fail to rejoice in the Lord. In fact, many of us do not even understand what it means to always rejoice in the Lord.

The way in which we worship God — both during Church services and in our daily lives — is of utmost importance in growing the fruit of joy.

JOY IS INHERENT IN GOD

The Church teaches that the Holy Trinity is a trinity of love. Part of this love is a divine joy, and as St. Athanasius teaches, this joy is inherent in the work of God:

Hence the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of Him; for the knowledge of Father through Son and of Son from Father is one and the same, and the Father delights in Him, and in the same joy the Son rejoices in the Father, saying, ‘I was by Him, daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.’ And this again proves that the Son is not foreign, but proper to the Father’s Essence. For behold, not because of us has He come to be, as the irreligious men say, nor is He out of nothing (for not from without did God procure for Himself a cause of rejoicing), but the words denote what is His own and like. When then was it, when the Father rejoiced not? but if He ever rejoiced, He was ever, in whom He rejoiced. And in whom does the Father rejoice, except as seeing Himself in His own Image, which is His Word? And though in sons of men also He had delight, on finishing the world, as it is written in these same Proverbs, yet this too has a consistent sense. For even thus He had delight, not because joy was added to Him, but again on seeing the works made after His own Image; so that even this rejoicing of God is on account of His Image. And how too has the Son delight, except as seeing Himself in the Father? for this is the same as saying, ‘He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father,’ and ‘I am in the Father and the Father in Me.’

Our worship of God — the most important act we can perform — should be joyous in part because such joyous worship is a participation in the joyous acts and relations of the Holy Trinity.

JOY IN WORSHIP

King David emphasized the importance of rejoicing in God: “Let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name YAH; and rejoice before Him” (Psalm 68:3–4).

Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green describes the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in this way:

Heaven will strike earth like lighting on this spot. The worshippers in this little building will be swept away into a divine worship that proceeds eternally, grand with seraphim and incense and God enthroned, ‘high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple’ (Isaiah 6:1). The foundations of that temple shake with the voice of angels calling ‘Holy’ to each other, and we will be there, lifting fallible voices in the refrain, an outpost of eternity.

If this is true, it is the most astonishing thing that will happen in our city today.

I believe it is true.

This is similar to the words of St. John of Kronstadt: “The Divine Liturgy is truly a heavenly service on earth, in which God himself, in a particular, immediate and most close manner is present and dwells with men, for He Himself is the invisible Celebrant of the service; He is both the Offerer and the Offering. There is on earth nothing higher, greater, more holy, than the liturgy; nothing more solemn, nothing more lifegiving.”

We have, in these three statements, an ineffable mystery: the righteous will praise God for His holiness, and God Himself will be present with us in this worship and praise; as our Lord tell us, “Where two or more are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). This should be a source of tremendous joy for us. In fact, feelings of despondency when engaging in worship are themselves sinful. St. John tells us that when you are praying, “and your spirit is dejected…remember then, as always, that God the Holy Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; and so do all the angels, including your own guardian, and the saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is there are they also. Where the sun is, thither also are all its rays. Try to understand what this means.”

This experience of joyful communion with God should also be part of our private worship. St. Seraphim of Sarov describes his devotional activity:

All the enjoyments of this world are not even a shadow of that which is prepared in the heavenly abodes for those who loved God: there, is eternal joy and triumph. So that our spirit will have freedom to uplift itself there and be nourished by sweetest conversation with the Lord, one must humble oneself with constant vigils, prayer and remembrance of the Lord.

And I, humble Seraphim, for this reason go through the Gospel daily. On Monday I read St. Matthew, from beginning to end; on Tuesday, St. Mark; on Wednesday, St. Luke; on Thursday, St. John; the other days I divide between the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of the Apostles. And I do not for a single day neglect to read the daily Epistle and Gospel, and also the readings to the saints. Through this not only my soul, but even my body rejoices and is vivified, because I converse with the Lord.

Many, if not most, of us are unable to give the extended time to Bible reading and prayer described by St. Seraphim. We should not allow limitations on our time to prevent us from any spiritual devotions, however, because this will prevent the necessary growth of spiritual joy. Instead, as advocated by St. John of Kronstadt, we should remember, “It is well to pray long and continually, but all men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. It is better for those who are not capable of long prayers to say short prayers, but with a fervent spirit.”

St. John reminds us of the reward for engaging in acts of corporate and private worship: “The Lord does not forsake those who labour for Him, and who stand before Him; for with what measure they mete, He will measure to them in return, and He will reward them for the abundance of the sincere words of their prayer by sending into their souls a corresponding abundance of spiritual light, warmth, peace, and joy.”

CONFESSION

The chief stumbling block to bearing and experiencing joy is sin. It should therefore be obvious to Orthodox Christians that confession is one of the most important acts we can perform to grow the fruit of joy. As our Lord tells us, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

St. Seraphim of Sarov points out that “throughout our whole life, by our transgressions we offend in greater or less degree the majesty of God, and therefore we should also ever humble ourselves before Him, begging remission of our debts.”

This process begins with self-examination. St. John of Kronstadt advises, “Examine yourself oftener; see where the eyes of your heart are looking. Are they turned towards God and the life to come, towards the perfect, blessed, resplendent and holy powers of heaven? Or are they turned towards the world, towards earthly blessings: food, drink, dress, abode; to the sinful vanity, works and pastimes of men?”

St. John further discusses the necessity of God’s discipline, and its relation to confession:

In this life we sin continually, and at the same time we are so self-loving that we cannot endure to be reproved for our sins and faults, above all before all others; but in the future life we shall be reproved for them before the whole world. Bearing in mind this terrible judgment-seat, let us bear reproof here humbly and gently, and let us correct ourselves of all our sins, all our faults; above all, let us bear reproof from those in authority over us, and may the Lord teach them to reprove our faults not with malice, but with love and in the spirit of meekness.

St. John points out that our primary reason for confession is so that we may go to heaven and see God. He adds “a second motive is inner calm. The more sincerely we confess our sins, the more calm will the soul be afterwards. For sins are secret serpents, gnawing at the heart of man, and never letting him rest; they are prickly thorns, constantly goring the soul, they are spiritual darkness.” We can therefore see that joy can be found in adhering to the exhortation of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, “If any here is a slave of sin, let him promptly prepare himself through faith for the new birth into freedom and adoption; and having put off the miserable bondage of his sins, and taken on him the most blessed bondage of the Lord, so may he be counted worthy to inherit the kingdom of heaven.”